RIO DE JANEIRO -- Sevens took its bow in the Olympics on Saturday and we were there to see it at the Deodoro Stadium. Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, France and Canada went two from two and we round up the key talking points from day one of rugby in the Games.
Australia are the team to beat
The favourites for women's gold put down a marker on day one of the sevens with the most complete pair of performances of any side here. In their first match against Colombia - Emilee Cherry started despite injury concerns - they showcased their all-court style of rugby with every player producing moments of sheer brilliance as they ran in nine tries. Whether it was the potent try-scoring of Charlotte Caslick, who grabbed three, the beautifully weighted kicking of Chloe Dalton or the orchestrating of Alicia Quirk, they had the opponent grasping at hot air as they waltzed through. And all that after they opted to start without star Ellia Green.
In their second match of the day against Fiji it was a similar state of affairs with Cherry excelling and Caslick adding to her ever-growing try count. They are the team to beat here in Rio and having won this year's World Sevens Series, they are nicely poised to complete a remarkable double.
Portia Woodman's New Zealand are best-placed to challenge Australia
It was an ominous start from the Black Ferns and if anyone is to stop Australia, they are currently the team who will do it. Their star Portia Woodman, who's the current women's world player of the year, was in spectacular form. They finished day one unbeaten and Woodman followed up on her hat-trick in the first match against Kenya, a game they eased through 52-0, with a further score against Spain.
Their support was also fantastic in the crowd. A strong contingent sat above the 22 nearest the tunnel cheering on every half-break and inevitably the resulting try while high-ranking officials from the New Zealand Rugby Union were also in attendance. The players looked confident and after their drubbing of Kenya, they then saw off Spain. It was a more error-strewn performance but on day one, they look best placed to challenge Australia for gold.
Great Britain struggled with nerves but are nicely placed
Team GB looked nervous in their opener against the hosts with Brazil feeding off some superb support from the crowd. Natasha Hunt showed her class with two opportunistic tries but they did look rattled in the firsthalf before closing out the match. They were making uncharacteristic handling errors and lacked a cutting edge but eventually they got over the line and then made the necessary improvements against Japan to finish two from two. The two real positives were not conceding any tries and the performances of two-try Jo Watmore.
"It was a shaky start, but we know sevens tournaments are not decided on the first day, and we've got two good wins under our belt," Team GB captain Emily Scarratt said. "The second performance was really pleasing.
"We really pride ourselves on our defence, If you don't let other teams score tries, it is generally a lot easier to win games.
U.S. lack physicality but have pace to punish
When the U.S. have ball in hand, they look dangerous as they showed in their 48-0 eight-try win over Colombia but in the close quarters of the contact area against Fiji in their opening match, they were found wanting for physicality. Fiji's Lavenia Tinai left her mark on the U.S. side with a series of blistering hits and though the Islanders lacked calmness at certain stages - despite men's coach Ben Ryan's best efforts when he was shouting from the stands 'malua' (slowly) -- they profited from the territory to win 12-7.
It was a disappointing start and while they got back to winning ways against Colombia, it is Canada from the North American contingent who look set to be targeting day three semifinals. They flew under the radar with New Zealand and Australia the headline attractions, but Canada were ruthless in their two matches as they eased past Japan and then Brazil.
'Pocket Rocket' Santini is Brazil's key weapon
As the TV camera panned around the stadium before the hosts' opening match against Team GB, the crowd started jumping. Their support for the team was brilliant with British knock-ons greeted like tries and the odd break as if they'd already got gold in the bag. Their key player will be the diminutive 1.50 metre-tall Edna Santini, nicknamed the 'pocket rocket', who is a wonderfully elusive runner but they must have her on the wing, spotting outside breaks rather than in the midst of the midfield scrap.
Against Canada, they lacked the same intensity and focus they showed against Team GB but this is a team who are showing promise and did their watching faithful proud on day one.